The first thing to know is this: Valerie has been redeemed. In an age of embarrassment television and Real Housewives self-humiliation, the literal meat grinder Valerie put herself through in 2005 has become the norm on TV – for better or worse, says King. “Valerie addresses that in the very first episode. And the funny spin on that is, ‘Turns out I was right.’”

The new season, set in 2014, finds Valerie doing what she can to stay current — meaning she’s got a blog and a Twitter (but to what extent?) and is just as obsessed with Bravo as everyone else. And that’s not all that’s changed for her since 2005. “Nine years in every person’s life changes or deepens or sharpens them, so to see Valerie nine years later, she would have had some shift in her,” says King. “The odd thing is, we’re even in Valerie’s house — the exact location was available — so it’s almost as if everything fell right back in place. But I fully believe the nine years has added something.”

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King also emphasized that though Valerie’s found some semblance of success, she’ll still experience those same cringe-inducing misfortunes that made the original Comeback such a dour delight. “I’m cagey enough to know that Valerie has to win, and lose, and win, and win, and lose,” he says. “There’s an evolution here, so that it will be a vibrant ride and there will be many losses. But I do love her so much; I wouldn’t trot her out again just to make people sad.”

“I know Valerie is as good as ever,” declares King. “I see it every day.”

Head over to Entertainment Weekly for more on what we should expect from The Comeback's return, including what we'll see from some of our other favorite characters on the show!